


Yours Truly, Neko of Kansai

by MeowasaurusRex12



Series: Intertwined Series [1]
Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Childhood Memories, F/M, Friendship, Past Character Death, Romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-07-17
Updated: 2019-07-24
Packaged: 2020-06-30 02:20:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 15,694
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19843549
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MeowasaurusRex12/pseuds/MeowasaurusRex12
Summary: Away from her hometown Sendai, Udai Kazumi struggles with all the hustle and bustle in Tokyo. With the help of everyone around her, she slowly gets a hand of living in the busy city. Her life was going well until an accident triggers her to remember forgotten memories. Who knew that a simple hit on the head Hinata-style by a volleyball can cause so much havoc in someone's life?





	1. Black cat means bad luck!

**Author's Note:**

> Hello dear readers! So this is the very first story of a series which I call 'Intertwined Series' (pretty lame name but eh) The stories in this series are, yes you guessed it, connected to each other. The others would probably be up in a few months or something... maybe after writing 10 chapters of this story. This fic is actually posted in fanfiction.net and currently has 4 chapters (don't worry, I'll also post them here one day at a time hehe). Anyways, enjoy reading! \ (•◡•) /
> 
> P.S.: How do you add new tags??? There's supposed to be more tags but most of them aren't registered :l

Run

Run

_Run_

A short-haired brunette raced her way to the crowded train station. It was already 8 in the morning, and yet here she was still on her way to her school, Nekoma High. Cherry blossom trees were in full bloom. Spring has arrived. Petals fall to the ground, coloring the busy streets of Tokyo with a pink hue.

A train going there arrived as soon as she got to the station. She fidgeted with her hands as she sat down. She straightens up her uniform and tucks a few loose strands of hair behind her ear. The train ride felt like hours instead of minutes to her.

"Why'd my alarm clock have to break now of all days" she murmured to herself

Looking around the train, it looks like no one else will be with her in entering the school late. Well, no other student from other schools will be arriving late. Some people on the train were giving her weird looks. Two girls who looked like her age were whispering to each other and occasionally looking at her. It was obvious that they were talking about her. She sighed. _Well at least I'm going to school, not walking around to who knows where and skipping classes. This is one first day to never forget._

The train arrived to its destination. She dashed off. The station was less crowded than she expected. Most of the people she passes by have suit cases and other bags for traveling.

She continued to run until she saw the residential near the school. Some people were out of their homes, enjoying the warmth of the sun and the cool breeze. There were children playing outside, and some teenagers looking like they're ready to go to the heart of Tokyo.

She follows the directions in her phone and yet she doesn't reach her destination. She tries taking lefts and rights in the most random places, hoping to find the school. _Where the crepes is it?_

She looks at her location and suddenly feels the urge to jump off the bridge she's on. She boarded the wrong train and it brought her to the wrong place.

_Damn these confusing Tokyo stations!_

And so she runs going back to the train station, arriving and boarding the right train ( _This is the right train, right?_ ) after an hour. She was officially 2 hours late.

_Great. Humiliation on the first day of school._

The train stops after 30 minutes or so. Kazumi runs going to her destination like how she runs to her room when she turns off all lights in the house at night. She can feel the fear and embarrassment consuming her whole being. A new student being 2 hours and 30 plus minutes late for school, not to mention she was already a third-year—the year where everyone expects you to be a very responsible member of the society.

Being nervous as hell, she didn't notice the black cat that ran straight in front of her. She tried to avoid it really, but it made things worse. A bleeding scrape on her knee and a scratch on her right cheek was what she got. The scrape wasn't so bad, she says to herself. Even if it's bleeding like crazy, it isn't bad. The scratch was bleeding. She ties her hankie to her knee and as for the scratch, she uses her right hand to cover it up using some tissue.

She starts to walk, limp rather. _Damn, this scrape hurts more than I_ expected.

She arrived at the gate. The climb up the few steps felt so tiring and painful for her. Running that distance drained her, even if she was part of a Track team before. Plus, the scrape felt more painful the more she walked.

The school premises is oddly quiet. _Too quiet_

The quadrangle looks like there were no students that even set foot there. The restrooms she passed by are all locked. Not a single sign of life is to be seen. She passes by a man that looks like a part of the faculty. He wore a red tracksuit and was busy talking to someone on the phone. He didn't notice her. _Must be a PE teacher. Good thing he didn't see me. I might get a scolding for being late or maybe cutting classes._

She passes by the first building full of classrooms. _Silence_

"Hm? What's with the silence?" She wonders if it's Monday. She checks her phone. It is. The time suggests that it could already be third period. The clinic, she has no idea where.

_Maybe they're still having the opening ceremony in the gymnasium. Maybe the principal is that type that loves giving long speeches and boring out students. If they ARE there, I'll ask someone where the clinic is._

She goes to the gymnasium. She hears voices, of boys in particular, and squeaking shoes. Also the thumping of balls. A whistle was blown, then the noises stopped. _A game for a ball sport varsity? No wait, there has to be more sounds than that if all the students are there._

She starts to wonder if there really is school. She's very sure it's a Monday. And she's very sure that it's already past morning training hours. Summoning up the courage she knocks on the metal doors of the gym and opens them. The sight of a volleyball court set up and an old man dressed up in a red tracksuit was what she saw. She starts to feel something bubbling from the pit of her stomach, probably out of embarrassment. She feels like something isn't right.

"Uhm, may I ask where the third year students, no actually all of the students, are right now? Oh wait, um where is the clinic located? I think I'm kind of lost" she hears the man chuckle. _This feels bad._

"There aren't any classes today, miss. It's a Saturday. The clinic is closed too." She froze. She looked at the old man who wore a kind smile. She also noticed a rather tall boy with a muscular built and bead head near the man. She can see a faint smirk on his face, as if he was teasing her for her slip-up. She would love to smack that smirk off his face. But for now, all she can do is turn red.

"Ehehe, I'm so sorry to interrupt" And with that, she took off.

"I see that you have a pretty bad scrape on your knee. And that scratch too" she turns to see the owner of the voice. The bedhead guy. There was something in his aura that just made her cringe and feel annoyed. Shrugging it off, she approaches him, the old man she just talked to a while ago gone from the doorway. "Need some help with that?"

"I'm fine. Besides, I might disturb your practice. Volleyball, right?" he nods. He moves closer to her to which she moves away in return.

"I won't bite you know. You aren't disturbing practice. It's our break time anyway" He gestures for her to follow him. Inside, she first sees a mohawk-haired boy who stares at her like he's in awe. _Creepy_

"Kuroo, by the way. Kuroo Tetsurou. You? First year I'm assuming"

"Udai Kazumi. I'm not a first-year. Believe it or not, I'm a third year. Just new here though." A boy with pudding-like hair and another male with caramel hair approached them. The pudding haired boy asked Kuroo something, making the latter need to go and leave Kazumi with the caramel-haired boy. She looked at him, dark grey orbs met brown ones. A certain shine on them. A feeling like the ones you'll feel with someone dearest to you was what the brown eyes had; sort of like being protected and taken care of. Something was tickling the back of Kazumi's head; she's seen this pair of eyes. But when and where?

"I'll come back. Just have to get something for Kenma" Kuroo interrupts Kazumi's train of thought about the mysterious eyes of the boy next to the pudding-head. "This is-"

"I can introduce myself Kuroo. Go and help Kenma. I'm Yaku, Yaku Morisuke. Also a third year that's mistaken as a first-year almost all the time. You're Udai-san, right?" Yaku was making eye contact with the floor as he spoke. He doesn't know why, but his intuition tells him to do so. _What're you doing Morisuke?! You're talking to Udai-san, not the floor! This is not like you._

"Mhm" Silence envelops the two. Yaku lifts his eyes off from the floor only to be met with dark grey once again. Both look away. Awkwardness is felt. Yaku clears his throat.

"So um, what made that captain of ours invite you here? It doesn't look like you're one of his fangirls. No, wait- Argh! That was so dumb of me! You obviously need medical attention. Sorry" He rubs the back of his head sheepishly.

 _That was kinda cute. Wait what? Kazumi what are you thinking!_ The brunette shakes her head a little. Yaku makes her sit on one of the benches, where she sees a boy that she swears looks like a makineko. He looks awfully familiar, like she's seen him before. Not in person, but somewhere like in a friend's album or room or something. She can't put a finger on it. She smiles to him and he nods.

"I'll go get the first aid kit. Uh, don't mind Taketora over there. He's always like that whenever there's a girl around. This is Fukunaga, by the way. He rarely talks, but he's a nice kid. Second year, just like that idiot and the pudding head you saw. Kenma" he leaves her with Fukunaga sitting on her right and Taketora looking at her from a distance. He's starting to really creep her out.

"You can talk to me if you want. Not just stare at me from a distance" He mutters some incomprehensible words while running going to who-knows-where. She sees the old man from a while ago enter the gym through the second opening along with Yaku and another male she hasn't been introduced to yet. The old man separates from them to take a cellphone call.

"Here. There's some betadine in it and gauze and everything you'll need. Oh this is Kai by the way, third year as well" He smiles at Kazumi and the girl is sure that his smile can make any girl fall for him.

 _'_ _But of course, no one beats Naruse Kakeru's smile._ ' She thought to herself

"Need some help?" he asks

"I'm good. Thanks for the kit. What's the name of your coach? He didn't introduce himself a while ago" She opens it and starts to tend to her wounds.

"Coach Nekomata. Nekomata Yasufumi. He's been the team's coach for a long time now" Yaku sits next to Kazumi.

"So uh, what happened to-" he points at her scratch and scrape.

"A black cat was in my way while I was running going here. I fell down and got a scrape. The cat, feeling scared, scratched my che- Gah! Yeah, my cheek"

"What I'm really curious about is why are you here on a Saturday, wearing the uniform and carrying your school bag" Kai sits down next to Yaku on the bench. He gets some athletic tape and wraps it around his index finger.

"I'm not so sure how all the devices that tell time in our house got changed to Monday. Must be my twisted brother's doing." She finishes tending to her scrape and starts to take care of the scratches.

"Tendou Satori" Kazumi hears Fukunaga mumble the name. Then her gears turn.

_Ah! He's the guy I saw on Tendou's middle school album! The kouhai that loves Shonen Jump as much as he does!_

"You're the kouhai that Tendou keeps on talking about!" Fukunaga smiles when he heard the name of his senpai before in middle school. "He said you love Shonen Jump. And you're a good wing spiker." he nods in thanks at her while smiling.

_He really is silent_

Finishing her business, she gives back the kit and prepares to leave.

She bows. "Thank you for the first aid kit. I'll be sure to be careful next time"

"No problem. See you on Monday" She leaves the gymnasium with some bandages on her knee and face, new found friends, and the cute slip-up of a certain libero she couldn't stop thinking about.

  
  



	2. Weekend

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here is the promised chapter 2! This is kinda short so forgive me :l It gives a look at Yaku and Kazumi's fam (more of Yaku's). Enjoy!!!

_Gosh, how I miss my bed_

Kazumi uses her remaining energy to trudge up the stairs of their home and go to her room. She flops on her bed and closes her eyes. Slowly, she drifted off to sleep, not noticing the boy with curly black hair and turquoise eyes that entered her fortress.

'She's probably plotting my murder in her sleep. Better run while I can.' Udai Hiroaki sets his sister's alarm clock back to normal. He also sets her phone's time and date back to normal. In summary, he fixed the time and date in every gadget in their house before leaving. Hiroaki was a mischievous 15 year old but he also knew his boundaries. The only thing that irks Kazumi the most is that Hiroaki's taller than her and their oldest sibling, who currently studies in a university a train away from their home. Standing at 5'7", he was the tallest family member, well he wasn't before, when their father was still part of the family (technically he still is but they don't see him as a part).

The convenience store is quite far, so he takes his bike. Though it was almost noontime, the breeze was still refreshing and the smell of cherry blossoms made him smile. Springtime was his favorite time of the year.

"If only Hachi were still alive, then I'd walk him around the subdivision everyday"

Yamamoto Akane closed her eyes and stretched her arms to the side. She loved spring. It has this calming effect on her. Being lost in her thought, she didn't notice the incoming boy riding a bike.

"Watch out!" Her eyes snapped open to reveal a boy around her age riding a bike, a horrified look on his face. He was holding the brakes as if his life depended on it

"Eeeeeh!" Akane held the brakes. She and Hiroaki both stopped just a few millimeters from crashing into each other. Hiroaki calmed himself down then went down from his bike.

"You should be more careful next time. Never close your eyes while riding a bike. Geesh, who knows what would've happened if we didn't stop right away" Akane continuously bowed and said sorry. The tall boy, having a kind heart, stopped her from bowing the who-knows-what time and smiled at her

"It's okay, no need for a hundred sorries. The good thing is that no one got hurt"

"But I feel guilty! Can I try to make it up to you?" Akane looked at Hiroaki straight in the eye. Light brown met Turquoise. "Anything. Name it"

"Uhh I was about to buy some lunch. Mayb-"

"Perfect! You'll get free lunch today. Yamamoto Akane by the way. You can call me Akane" She reached out her hand for Hiroaki to shake.

"Udai Hiroaki. Nice meeting you Akane"

* * *

Weekends were meant for leisure.

Yaku Morisuke thinks as he furiously scrubs on the stubborn stain on his younger sister's blouse. It was 3 in the afternoon, practice ended around 12 so he has enough time to do some household chores before cooking looks at the number of clothes he has to scrub. Why'd they have to scare Haruka-san away

"Nii-san! Can we go to the maaaaaall?" A little girl with chocolate brown hair and dark blue eyes stood near the doorway of the laundry area. She was holding a rag doll on one had and a chocolate chip cookie on the other. The five-year-old had the most innocent smile on her face, but her attitude sometimes says otherwise. Yaku Kohana can be an angel then become the spawn of the devil right after. "I wanna buy a dress for Maia's birthday party. It's in 2 weeks!"

"I wanna buy more cookies" Yaku Akihito, the youngest of the three siblings, stood next to his sister, holding the jar that once was filled to the brim with cookies. His blonde hair was messy from playing tag with the other kids in the neighborhood. His green eyes were looking straight into Morisuke's dark brown ones. Morisuke sighs. He can't just ditch all the household chores that has to be done. An idea sparks in his brain

"We'll go to the mall" The two rejoice but are then cut off. "But, you two have to help me with the household chores" Both nod in approval. Kohana got the duster and started to dust off furniture. Akihito decided to fix up he and his sister's shared room. Morisuke resumed his work, thoughts then wandering to his parents

"They haven't called in a while. Must be busy with work" Having parents that work abroad was difficult, especially that his siblings were both still 5. Kohana got their mother's headstrong and stubborn personality, making her difficult to take care of. Akihito is okay, except for the fact that in public places Morisuke must never leave him from his sight because Akihito will go wandering around asking random people if he or she is his father or mother. Morisuke knows that Akihito wants to find his biological parents ever since he knew he was adopted. The caramel-haired boy understands that, but getting him back from random people almost all the time is embarrassing.

"GAAAAAAAAAH!" A high-pitched scream from the living room was heard. He runs to the living room to find Kohana hiding behind their couch, knees shaking and looking as if she was about to cry. He approached her and tried to comfort her. When he asked what's wrong, she points to the shelf where all their picture frames are. He already knows what's going on. He approaches the shelf and gets the rubber snake. "N-n-nii-chan!"

"It's just a rubber snake Ko-chan. Nothing to be afraid of" Kohana furiously wipes her tears and stomps off to her and Akihito's room. "Aki! You meanie!"

"No fighting!" Too late. Akihito comes out of the room with a slap mark on his forearm. He looks like he's in pain. "Ko say sorry. Aki, say sorry as well"

Kohana screams sorry from the room. Aki screams as well. Yaku pinches the bridge of his nose. "Both of you say it sincerely. Or else no going to the mall" Kohana goes out from the room and says sorry. Akihito does the same. "Good. Now go get dressed. After I finish with Aki's mud-stained polo, we're going out"

* * *

Hiroaki goes home with a smile. Yamamoto Akane in his mind.

"Tadaima!" Kazumi rushes to him, looking at him strangely. It was obvious that Kazumi came from the kitchen, seeing that she's wearing an apron, her hair was tied messily, and she was holding a spoon dripping with who-knows-what she was cooking (read: heating in the pan). She eyed the black haired male.

"You're creepily... happy today. And you came home late" He hums at her and goes up to his room "Hey I'm not done talking to you yet"

"I ate with a friend. We also went to a cafe. That's all" he shouts from above before closing his room's door. Kazumi shrugs and goes back to the kitchen.  
Must be some friend he met in his video games. Good thing he's finally- wait  
She stares at the ceiling. Hiroaki never played video games. Only their older brother did. School hasn't started yet, and they don't have friends living here from what she remembers. "Hey Hiro, what's the name of that friend of yours?" Hiroaki shouts the name of his friend, making Kazumi smirk

"Hmm, looks like little Hiroaki is starting to have a life" She then remembers something. Someone was coming back home. Hiroaki doesn't know though. She stirs the miso ramen she bought in the nearby shop. She has no idea how to cook so buying in nearby stores is a smarter choice rather than giving her ingredients and cook books.  
The doorbell rings. She takes off her apron and sets the spoon she was holding aside. "Hiroaki! Get down from there and start setting the table!"  
She opens the door and smiles

"Welcome home, nii-chan"

* * *

"Otou-san, I'm tired." The room was well-lit. Paintings, blank canvases, and paint scattered around. A little girl around the age of 8 sat on the stool in the center of the room, looking like she was ready to pass out any time. An unfinished painting of a dog that sat on a couch was in front of her.  
Her eyes were threatening to shut, but the punishment awaiting her when she doesn't finish this is what's keeping her awake.

"So what if you're tired?! You'll never be the best if you don't give sacrifices! Now finish that or this stick would come in contact with your hands again!" A low voice, coming from the man beside the child, boomed. Udai Ohta was not going to accept any excuse from his daughter.

'She has to become the best. Famous businessmen would love a well-rounded daughter-in-law'

She started to paint, almost falling off the stool because of how much she was sleep deprived for the past few days. The dog in the portrait was one of the wealthy businessmen's son's dog. Her father pushed her to paint him in order for the boy to have an interest in her. Yes, they were innocent young children but their future was already being decided on.

"Remember, this is for your own good" She hears for the nth time this week.

"Yes, otou-san" She mumbles. She can't do anything. She was a helpless child, trapped in the chains her father created. No one can help her, they'll only make things worse. Her only option is to follow.

Follow

…follow and maybe

Just maybe…

Everything will be alright.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ohoho I wonder who the little girl is O-o And just like I said, chapter 3 will be up tomorrow
> 
> ~nyannn~


	3. 1st Day with the Cats

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wieeeee 3 chapters down!!! I'm actuallyplanning on posting the fifth chapter right after the fourth one but who knows? Maybe I wouldn't be able to finish it on time...

The wide gymnasium was filled with students, new and old alike. Most students were forming small groups. Some students, like Kazumi, were wandering around like lost dogs.

_I’ll probably go look for Kuroo-kun or his other friends._

Just as she spotted the wild hair of a certain team captain, someone tapped on her shoulder. She turned around to see a girl slightly taller than her with long black hair and shining purple eyes.

“Hi! Uh, I’m not sure if you still remember me but I’m Hinata Youko. I was in the same section as you during fifth grade. You’re Udai Kazumi, right?” The said girl nods. She can’t remember who the girl in front of her is. She tries to dig deep into her memories. Her second grade memories weren’t that clear, but she does remember one event that she thinks the ravenette was involved in.

“I think I kind of remember you, Hinata-san. Were you the one who accidentally poured mud on of our-“ Youko Immediately covered the brunette’s mouth, her face with an obvious blush

“D-don’t say it here! Yes, that was me. And that particular classmate also studies here!” Kazumi doesn’t remember who the male classmate was. Youko was one of the active people in class, maybe the reason why she was able to remember her right away, besides the fact that she was involved in ‘the incident’.

“Anyways, welcome to Nekoma High! It may not be one of the most prestigious schools here but it has A plus education.”\

“And cute boys” A girl, about 5”7’ in height, approached them. She had short pink hair that curls near the end and navy blue eyes that were filled with mischief. “Riiiiight Youko?”

“Shut your mouth Aimi. As if you have already gotten over your break-up with—ow!”

“Forgive this girl. She’s a babble mouth, not a good choice if you’re finding for a friend. Okudaira Aimi. You?” When Kazumi finished introducing herself, the speaker announced that the opening ceremony was about to start.

“Since it looks like you don’t know your class yet, you can come with me.” Aimi parted ways with the two, going to the line for the Class 3-3.

* * *

“Good morning, Nomura-sensei” A woman, in her mid-forties, stood behind the old wood desk in the office. She wore a kind smile, wrinkles forming on the sides of her eyes as a sign of ageing (and probably stress).

“Good morning. You must be Udai Kazumi. Take a seat here.” She sat on the chair the principal told her to sit on. The woman fixed some papers before talking to Kazumi

“It’s quite rare to see new students who transfer here on their last year of high school. What brings you here to our school?”

“My mother was offered a better job here. She also wanted some space between us and our father because of…a family matter”

“Ah, I see” She nodded.

“Tell me a little bit more about yourself? What club would you like to join here? I see in your files that you played a lot of sports, volleyball included. Maybe you might be interested in becoming the boys’ volleyball team’s manager?”

“Thank you for the offer, sensei. But I already decided on joining the Track Club” Nomura-sensei looks at the clock, seeing that it was already 5 minutes past 8. She stands up and fixes the wrinkles on her pencil skirt.

“Let’s go to your class now, ne?” Kazumi follows the woman out of the office and to her class. She has no idea on which class she’ll be joining, but based on her performance in Shiratorizawa maybe she’ll be put in a college prep class (though she almost failed her Jap. Lit but it wasn’t bad to hope, right?)

They climb up the flight of stairs until they reach the third floor, the floor for the third years. They pass by class 1, then 2, 3, and 4. They stop right in front of the door of Class 3-5. Nomura-sensei knocks on the door and a man around the same age as her with glasses and neat silver hair opens the door.

“Ah, Good morning Nomura-sensei” The whole class stands up and greets her as well

“Good morning” She enters the classroom with Kazumi in tow. The brunette looks around the classroom and spots two familiar faces.

_‘Kuroo-kun and Yaku-kun. Guess they’ll be my classmates for the rest of the year’_

She notices the absence of the third third-year in the volleyball club, Kai Nobuyuki. Nomura-sensei stands in the middle of the class with Kazumi beside her. She tells the brunette to introduce herself

“Good morning. I’m Udai Kazumi, from Shiratorizawa Academy in the Miyagi Prefecture. Please take care of me.” She bows

“I’ll be taking my leave now. Please show her how a student of Nekoma High acts.” Nomura-sensei leaves the classroom. The silver-haired teacher, which Kazumi can say is a megane, goes back to the front of the classroom.

“You can sit next to Oikawa-san over there.” He points at the seat in the middle of a girl with dark red hair and black eyes and a boy who looks exactly like the girl except well, he’s a boy. The two exchange looks before minding their own business. Once Kazumi sat down, their class (which was English) started.

Their teacher, whose name is Fuji Hiro, discussed mostly about the topics they’ll be discussing for the quarter and some rules to follow during their English period. The introduction also included a short game of translating.

Most of the words on the board were not new to Kazumi. Being in a prep class in Shiratorizawa and being forced by your parents to take extra English classes gave her quite an easy time. Her seatmates, she came to know as Oikawa Hotaru and Oikawa Kei, were also fluent in English. Their parents bringing them to the US twice a year to see their relatives there helped them learn the language fast, as said by Hotaru.

By the end of the period, Kazumi has already gained 3 friends, the Oikawa twins and Hayami Ayame, a girl with medium length dark-brown hair tied in a half-ponytail and same coloured eyes framed by rectangular black glasses. Their next class was in the Home Economics Room in the second building. Everyone piled out of the classroom in groups or in twos. Hayami decided to walk with Kazumi, seeing that she didn’t have that much friends yet.

“So… how’s it like in Miyagi? No wait, how is it like in Shiratorizawa? I heard that school has powerhouse sports teams, especially in volleyball! I’m part of the volleyball team here by the way, setter and vice-captain. You? Any sport?”

“Shiratorizawa is different from other schools I could say. We were required to stay in dorms, the campus was very big, the advanced classes were difficult, the sports teams train very hard-Not that I’m telling that you guys don’t- it’s just that when a very important game is coming up, for example the semis, they’re pulled out from their class just to train. I was part of the-“

“Udai-san!” A male voice owned by none other than Kuroo Tetsuro cut the conversation. The girls see the captain approach them from behind.

“Guess you’re one of the nerds too, eh?”

“Doesn’t mean someone is part of a prep class means they’re a nerd, Kuroo-kun”

“You know each other?! How? Are you a gamer that ‘female’ Kuroo befriended? Or he finally used a male avatar and flirted you?”

“Ah I had a slip up a day ago and it did not involve video games. Thanks for the info anyway. I’ll be careful when playing video games”

“Hey! That’s minus 30 to my dignity” Hayami just laughs and flicks Kuroo’s forehead, tiptoeing in the process.

“Who in this world said you had dignity left?”

They arrived at the Home Economics Room where 1 table had 6 chairs each. Hayami, Kuroo, and Kazumi all sat on the second table to the left of the teacher’s table, animately talking amongst themselves. They didn’t notice a black haired male and Yaku sit on the two stools facing Hayami and Kazumi respectively. Hotaru took the last seat in their table.

“Sorry to interrupt your chat but I’ll sit here”

“It’s okay. No one was sitting there a while ago anyway” That’s the only time when Kazumi noticed the black haired male. She would be lying if she said that he wasn’t familiar. She couldn’t point out where and when she saw him.

“I’ll sit here with Yaku if you don’t mind”

“I don’t mind at all. I didn’t catch your name yet”

“Kobayashi Haku. I think I’ve met you before. Are you Udai Tenma’s little sister? It’s okay if you don’t remember me though” Kuroo, Yaku, and Hayami all let out audible gasps. They didn’t think that her last name being Udai meant that she was related to the famous Little Giant.

“You’re brother is THE Little Giant?!” Yaku stated in a not-so-calmmanner.

“Udai Tenma IS the Little Giant, right?!”

“THE Little Giant that volleyball players from across the country admired!”

“Uh calm down” Kazumi sweatdropped. She didn’t think that her brother would be THAT famous (Okay maybe she did, she just didn’t expect that they’ll be very hyped about it). “Yes, my brother’s name is Udai Tenma. And yes, he is the Little Giant”

“So you are related to him. I think I saw you before during one of my brother’s parties a few months ago.”

“Oh! That’s why you’re familiar. You’re the one who lead the toast”

“Cool, you remember me.”

Their teacher arrived, a short stout woman with dirty yellow hair in a pixie cut. Home Economics started. Their first task was to group into threes and bake anything that they know how to bake.

“I CALL DIBS ON KUROO-KUN! HAYAMI YOU’RE WITH ME TOO” Hotaru’s arms clung to Kuroo and Hayami, grinning as she did so. “We’re making pie! Just like back when we were in first year”

The two smile, remembering that very first baking lesson they had. The pie didn’t turn out well, but at least they gained new friends after.

“Sure. Just tell us what to do baker-chan”

The three others left on the table all watched the chatting group, until Kobayashi cleared his throat.

“So… let’s all just assume that we’re group mates. Got any ideas?”

“I remember baking cookies with my mom before. Maybe we can try that”

“I have recipes in my phone. Cupcakes, croissants, you name it” Yaku pulled out his phoneand showed them the tons of recipes he has. “My siblings love baking so I had to learn how to.“

“Let’s get some work done”

They settled on making brownies, one of the most common pastries to make. Chatting while working was normal to ease boredom while waiting for their pastry to finish baking, so their teacher was not strict for once. Kobayashi insisted on being the one to watch over the brownies in the oven at the back of the classroom, leaving Yaku and Kazumi alone.

“You said you were from Shiratorizawa right? What’s it like there?”

“I guess what makes it different from other schools besides the scholarships given is the academics, the size of the campus, and most importantly: the horses” A laugh erupts from the two. Yaku remembers seeing horses in the Shiratorizawa campus before when he visited his cousin back in Miyagi. He was around 8 at that time and his interest in animals took over him when he was in the campus, running off to where the horses were. He gave his parents a mini- heart attack, knowing full well that the campus was big enough for a child to get lost in.

“I do remember seeing horses there. I once visited my cousin there. I also remember seeing a magazine article about the campus and of course, the horses were mentioned. Enough talk about Shiratorizawa and horses. How about you? Any sport that you play?”

“I can play quite a number of sports because of my brothers’ influence. My main sport though is track and field. You know, the hurdles and stuff” Just hearing track and field made Yaku low-key shudder. It’s not like he hated the sport, he just… didn’t really have good experiences with it. Some of his elementary memories were dark because of it.

“I’m not really a fan of that sport” he chuckles, “The gods didn’t give me the gift of running fast and jumping high”

“Brownies are done!” Kobayashi waltzes in with a tray of brownies topped with little marshmallows. “…I think”

“Alright class. Put you creations on the Tupperwares I provided then bring them home. Taste testing will be tomorrow” After greetings were exchanged, everyone piled out and headed back to their designated classroom.

* * *

Classes ended quicker than Kazumi expected. It was already club time. Students were filling the hallway, all excited to attend their respective clubs. Kazumi had already decided on which club she was going to pick ever since seeing the options she had. She ran down the steps in her track and field attire, excitement radiating off of her.

“Yosh! Let’s do this!”

Maybe she was too excited. Too excited that she forgot to slow down. The first floor was crowded with people and anyone could round the corner to the stairs.

Her face landed straight into a person’s chest; she can tell the person was a he. The male’s hands were on her shoulders, probably the ones that helped her stop her run.

“Udai-san! You almost gave me a heart attack” That voice. She opens her eyes and looks up, which she regrets

“Y-y-Yaku-san!” Her face was just a few centimeters away from the boy’s. Both faces had a shade of red. Kazumi can feel her heart pounding out of embarrassment and the fact that she’s _that_ close to the caramel-haired boy. “Sorry, sorry! I’m so so sorry!”

She quickly regains her balance and dashes off, not daring to look back at the boy she bumped into. She cannot and will not face him again this week. If she has to, however, she vows to keep a 9 feet distance and zero eye contact. Yaku, on the other hand, slowly went up the stairs to the faculty room where he was supposed to submit some club forms that Kuroo ‘forgot’ to give.

 _That girl, not looking where she’s going. She could get someone badly injured if she continues that._ He sighed and realized that his ‘team mom’ instincts are acting up again. Seriously, he has to try and use that for the team only. He has to step up his disciplining game, especially that the first-years (the tall Russian to be exact) look like trouble in human form. _Except for that kid with black hair. He looks easy to handle. Plus, he said he’d help in any way possible besides being the substitute libero which means I’d have a handy helper._

* * *

“So, am I in?” Kazumi sat on the bench and took a swig from her water bottle. She just had a race with the team captain of the Girl’s Track Team, Sawamura Rini— to which she lost by a millisecond.

“Of course you are! We actually accept anyone who wants to join, the mini-competition just lets me see their abilities” She blew her whistle and signaled all the other members to round up. “Everyone, this is Udai Kazumi. Starting today, she’ll be part of our team”

‘Woah! You’re the new student in our batch right?” A redhead with dark yellow eyes on the right of Rini started asking questions non-stop, not giving time for Kazumi to answer each of them. “What school did you come from? Competitions you joined? Any special thing you do to become fast in running? What’s your-“

“Kagami-senpai, let Udai-san talk” a soft voice spoke up. It was the girl with grey eyes and blue hair that was permed. She looks like she was smaller than Kazumi by a few inches.

“I’m so sorry for babbling again! I kinda have a tendency to do that especially when I meet new people. Ito Kagami, Vice captain of the team” she shook hands with Kazumi. “I saw you run a while ago, not bad”

“Thanks. I was part of the Shiratorizawa Track Team during my middle school and second year”

“My cousin was a part of that team too Udai-san. Yamazaki Chihiro, kinda like my carbon copy except she had midnight blue hair and dark grey eyes” the girl with a soft voice said. She looked like a shy person.

“Yeah, I remember her. I think I remember her telling me about you. You are…”

“Yamazaki Kira”

“Kira! Yep, she told a lot about you” Kira left to buy drinks for everyone at the vending machine, probably a way for her to slip away from the big crowd.

“So to complete the introduction, we have Fuji Elisse, Komi Sachiko, Ishikawa Ruri, Kuroo Koemi, and… Kagami where’d Amaya go?”

“Dunno. Maybe flirting with her boyfriend again”

“Okay anyways, Miyazaki Amaya who is currently not here because she’s busy cuddling with her boyfriend somewhere in the bleachers.You’re in Class 5 right? She’s the girl with ash blond hair tied in a high ponytail”

The rest of the time was used to practice (read: talk and fast walk) for the upcoming competition in two months. Kazumi learned that the Girls’ Track Club was supposed to be shut down by the school because of its unpopularity and how it cannot win any competition for the past few years. If not for Rini’s begging to not shutting it down and their coach (who is currently in the US for some official business) talking to the head of the club supervision then the Girls’s Track Club wouldn’t exist anymore.

“And that’s why we’re going to try and bring home the bacon for the upcoming competition” Kuroo Koemi, whom is Kuroo Tetsurou’s second cousin, finishes her explanation.

“I see. Well then, guess we’ll have to train as hard as we can”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just some things I wanted to talk about in this chapter
> 
> 1\. KUROO ACTING AS A WOMAN GAMER. It was stated in the third chapter of Haikyuu-bu (the new spinoff series, a very good read) that Kuroo acts as a female gamer and makes male gamers fall in love with 'her'. In the end, he reveals his true identity XD
> 
> 2\. NARUSE KAKERU. He's one of the main characters in the manga and anime entitled 'Orange' (tear-jerker anime. A must watch)
> 
> 3\. MANGA SPOILER OOPS... UDAI TENMA! THE LITTLE GIANT! HIS NAME WAS REVEALED DURING THE MATCH BETWEEN KARASUNO AND KAMOMEDAI DURING THE NATIONALS (I AM SO SORRY FOR ALL THE NOT MANGA READERS OUT THERE)


	4. Good Morning?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's July 20! Happy Trash Day!!! 
> 
> Oh wait... I mean-
> 
> HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ONE OF AOBA JOHSAI'S PRETTY SETTERS: OIKAWA TOORU
> 
> Appreciate this handsome premium trash boiiiii (づ｡◕‿‿◕｡)づ

“Uh, what’s this supposed to be?” Kazumi woke up earlier compared to the past few days of school for the sole reason of tasting her older brother’s new ‘food invention’. She now regrets her life choices as she sits in front of what she can call a ‘kitchen disaster’. _Gosh, Gordon Ramsey would flip if he sees this._

“Kazumi you have no right to judge my skills. You can’t even cook something as simple as egg” Tenma deadpanned. 

“Uh, excuse me. I can cook eggs and pancakes. I’m not THAT of a noob in the kitchen” she protested

“Okay, okay whatever you say. Anyways, this my dear sister is what I proudly call ‘TEB’. You know, like BLT” 

“So it’s… toast, egg, bacon?”

“Yep! I toasted the bread and saw this technique in youtube where you put the egg in the middle of the toast. I made 2 of it and put bacon in the middle like a sandwich. It… didn’t go as exactly as I planned” Tenma sheepishly scratched his head

“Doesn’t look like it. Still gonna try it ‘cause I’m starving” she took a bite from the sandwich 

and regretted her life choices

“Nii-chan the toast is burnt. The egg is too salty too. The bacon is okay though”

“I knew it I should’ve just added a pinch of salt”

“How much salt did you add?” Kazumi took off the bacon from the TEB and put it on a bowl of rice her brother prepared because he assumed this would happen. Kazumi does prefer to eat rice for breakfast. 

“About half a teaspoon. I thought the egg would have more flavor”

“Well it did. Enough saltiness to give me stones”

“That is just exaggeration. Let me taste it” He breaks one toast in half and bites. He makes his signature funny face every time he eats something that’s not good for his taste. “I should really think things through first before putting them into action”

The brother-sister duo eat breakfast while conversing. It’s one of those rare times when they could sit back, relax, and talk to each other. Kazumi can say that she’s closer to her older brother compared to her younger brother even if Tenma was almost always away from them as they grew up. Tenma was the one that encouraged her to try Track and Field.

“You still in touch with that Hyogo boy? You know, the grandson of okaa-san’s patient. The guy that puts his jacket over his shoulders” Kazumi _almost_ spits her juice when her brother asks that out of the blue. She coughs.

“You mean Kita-kun?” 

“Whatever his name is. So…?” Tenma puts his plate aside and positions himself as if he was an investigator in an interrogating room. He looks at his sister dead in the eye, something that the other party does not understand why he has to do it.

“Uh not really. Come on Tenma-nii, it’s been 3 years since I last saw him! I’ve gotten over that small crush I had on him” 

Tenma slowly rolls his eyes and makes quotation marks using his fingers. “I’ve gotten over” 

The brunette in front of him playfully throws crumbs of bread to his direction. He uses his left hand to cover his face while he uses the other to throw crumbs as ‘revenge’

“I was just messin’ with ya!” He laughs and puts down his arms. Kazumi stops throwing bread crumbs and decides to move a strip of bacon around her plate.

“Yeah, yeah. But seriously though, my crush on the guy is gone. _Poof”_ She makes a popping hand gesture using her two hands in front of Tenma’s face. It was her turn to act as an investigator. After all, she _did_ know everything about her brother’s love life despite being apart almost their whole life. Gadgets were very useful tools.

“I’m gonna jump to the hardest question. You still like Kataoka-san?” And it was Tenma’s turn to almost spit his drink. What makes his situation different from Kazumi is that he was drinking coffee. _Newly made coffee._

“You burnt your tongue, didn’t you?” Kazumi deadpans.

“No. Psh” _Well that hurts._

“Answer my question then my dear brother” Tenma _really_ wants to wipe off the smirk on his little sister’s face. He just sighs and puts his head on the table.

“I dunno. I heard that she’s got eyes on the team captain of the soccer club” He lightly bumps his head on the table twice and once he stopped, Kazumi reached out and pat his head.

“Ooooh egg in the center of toast!” Hiroaki cuts their conversation to snatch the toast from the plate. He took a bite, “Huh, not bad. Kinda salty. I like it”

“Hiroaki appreciates my cooking!” Tenma shoots up from his wallowing state and starts ruffling his taller-by-0.1in younger brother’s hair.

“He’s got weird taste buds. Don’t get flattered nii-chan”

* * *

_Damn, it’s so early. I should’ve stayed at home a little bit longer. If only Tenma-nii didn’t start cleaning the house…_

It was 5 in the morning and Kazumi already boarded the train going to Nekoma. The train wasn’t packed so it was kind of a good thing in her opinion. Less people meant she could sit on a chair and nap. She takes one last look at her watch and closes her eyes. She can feel her consciousness drifting away

_away_

_And away_

_and -_

_Riiiiiingggggg_

“Dang it” she muttered to herself. If she were to list the things she hates one of them would be being disturbed when you’re on the verge of sleep. She digs her bag for her phone and checks who’s calling. It was Sawamura Rini

“Hello?” 

_“Good morning Udai-san. I just wanted to let you know that practice for this morning is cancelled”_

“Wha- why?” She was already cursing inside. _What would I do for the next… 2 hours?!_

_“Coach Fuji called and told me that the oval is scheduled for inspection today”_

“Inspection?! Aren’t they supposed to do that during break” Kazumi could not get the logic as to why they would do inspection when classes and clubs have begun. They had a pretty long vacation so why didn’t the school do that when students weren’t around?

_“I know right. I told Coach Fuji about that then she said that the school’s sched was packed during our vacation. Well, we can’t do anything about it now”_

“Yeah. We’ll just have to follow”

_“I’m gonna call on the others. See ya later. Bye”_

“Bye” The phone call ended and she groaned. She didn’t have anything to do for the next 2 hours. She finished all her homework and there was no quiz announced so what’s she supposed to do in school? If she were able to turn back time, she’d be a stubborn sister and not get out of the house.

_“The train will be stopping shortly. Please prepare to go down. Do not forget your valuables”_

Going out of the train was a lot easier compared to when Kazumi boards in her regular time where she gets pushed out. People have only started filling the train station which means it’s not yet 6 in the morning.

_Maybe I could stop by that bakery that sells delicious melon pan_

Her mouth starts to water when she remembers the delicious melon pan the store offers. She discovered it when Yaku gave it to her as a ‘sorry gift’ the day after he bumped into her. She was about to refuse it and tell him that he didn’t have to give her but he shoved it in her hands and ran going back to his own practice. 

“Well then, first I go to the bakery and probably think what I’m gonna do after once I get there”

“Who’re you talking to?”

“Ah!” Kazumi trips on nothing but luckily the person who surprised her caught her backpack, stopping her from hitting the ground. Mystery person pulled her bag so that she can stand up. She already has a hunch on who the person is but maybe things are different this time. She fixes her uniform before looking at the cause of her fall.

“Yaku-kun you should really stop doing that” She gave him the look of utter disapproval

“Hehe sorry. I couldn’t help it! You were talking to yourself again” Yaku laughs. Kazumi gives him a glare.

“Well I do remember reading that studies show that it’s beneficial for people to talk to themselves once in a while”

“ ‘Once in a while’. You do it almost every time you’re alone”

“Eh?! That’s not true!”

The caramel-haired boy continues laughing. Kazumi just huffs and walks faster.

“Tsk tsk tsk, so short-tempered. You know, Kuroo likes short-tempered girls” The brunette gives him a questioning look. He replies with a smirk. 

“Uhm, no thanks” It was then the libero’s turn to look at her questioningly. She gives him a look as if she was asking _‘what?’_

“Ah, it’s just that every girl I’ve become friends with has a crush on Kuroo or something. You gotta admit he is good-looking. I bet he’s every girl’s dream guy” _It makes me kinda jealous to be honest._

“Dream guy huh. What makes you say that?” _Everyone does have their own opinion when it comes to talking about the ‘dream guy’._

“What do you mean what makes you say that? He’s got pretty much every trait a girl is looking for! Smart, good-looking, sporty, tall, you name it” Silence. _Then-_

“Pfffft” Kazumi bursts into a fit of laughter to the point that she has to hold on to the lamppost nearby so that she doesn’t fall down. “You sound like you have a HUGE crush on Kuroo!” Yaku just stares at the girl holding on to the lamppost while clutching her stomach. She slowly starts to gain her composure once she realized Yaku wasn’t laughing along. _Well, something’s wrong._

“Also, you sound like one of those low-key jealous people in American Movies” Yaku flinches. Kazumi now feels pretty guilty about saying that. 

_Ah, I think I screwed up. Bigtime_

“Oh, is that so?” The libero gives off a short (and obviously fake) laugh before walking ahead, making Kazumi feel more guilty. “You’re gonna go to the bakery right? Let’s get going” 

She walks a little behind him. Yaku seems to notice it so he walks a little slower so that they match. He hums a song, something that Kazumi doesn’t notice since she was too deep in thought.

_Should I bring it up again and say sorry? What should I tell him after? Maybe encouraging words? Like what though? He can’t really compare himself to Kuroo-kun. He’s… a different type of guy._

“Earth to Udai-san?” A flick on the forehead was all Yaku needed to do to snap the brunette back into reality. 

“Geh?! What was that for?”She looked around then noticed that they were in front of the bakery. “Oh we’re here” 

“Yeah for about 2 minutes already” Yaku deadpanned. He opens the door and the chimes ring, signalling their arrival. “After you”

The bakery was just a small cottage-like place. Two tables with 2 chairs each were situated on both ends of the store. The display showed just a few options of bread, one of them being the delicious melon pan.

“It smells so good in here” Kazumi looks at the bread choices while Yaku _straight up_ went in the kitchen. 

“Yaku-kun what are you doing?!” An old lady wearing an apron decorated with flour whatever ingredients she used to bake exits the kitchen with Yaku and a girl about their age just behind her. 

“Oh hello dear! What can I get for you today?”

“Obaa-chan this is my classmate, Udai Kazumi. She loved the melon pan you baked the other day” 

“One of your new friends eh Mori-chan? Well then Kazumi-chan I’ll get the newly made ones in the kitchen. They have the same ingredients just like the one you tasted. Wait here” She starts fixing things here and there like she didn’t just bake a dozen batches of bread. Kazumi wonders how she’s got so much energy left.

“The one in the display is fine, really” Morisuke’s grandmother shakes her head. 

“Mori-chan’s friends always get fresh and special bread. Of course you should too!” And with that, she disappears into the kitchen. 

“I’ll go use the restroom” Yaku opens the door that leads to stairs. Kazumi assumes that it leads to the second story of the place, possibly Yaku’s grandmother (and maybe female relative)’s house.

The girl with caramel colored wavy hair takes over the counter and continues the work of polishing. She smiles.

“It’s rare for Morisuke to bring a girl here. From what I remember, the last time he was with a girl was when he treated his volleyball team along with two of his team member’s sisters.” 

“He didn’t bring me here, actually. I wanted to buy the melon pan he gave me a few days ago” The caramel-haired girl smirks. 

“Interesting~” She gestures Kazumi to sit on one of the chairs. She keeps the rug she was using and sits on the other chair.

“I’m Yaku Kyra, Mori’s most beloved cousin”

“Whaaaat? Who said you are?” Morisuke emerges from the stairs and lightly shoves Kyra who, in return, catches him in a headlock.

“Oi, oi! Show some respect to your college cousin!” 

“Kyraaaaa. You’re literally just 2 months older than me” Kyra ruffles Morisuke’s hair, giving him a new hair-do. “Gah! My hair” 

“Mori-chan? Ky-chan? Is everything all right?” Kazumi stands up to help carry the tray full of bread and place it in their respective baskets.

“Thank you very much for your help Kazumi-chan. Here’s the melon pan specially made for you” She hands out a small basket then hands out a much larger one. “These are for Morisuke’s other friends. Oh look at the time! You two must get going now” 

Morisuke’s grandmother _shoves_ the two out of the bakery, taking his grandson by surprise.

“Obaa-chan?!”

“It’s 5: 50! Your practice starts at 6 right?” As fast as lightning, Yaku dashes off. Kazumi screams a ‘wait up’ and runs after him, holding the two baskets.

“Oi! Help me with these baskets!”

“Catch up first!”

_I see. So you’re challenging me_

A chill runs up Yaku’s spine. He looks at his companion, who just sped up and is catching up to him. Before he knew it, he was behind.

“Ha!” Out-of-breath Kazumi manages to say when Yaku reaches the gate just a few seconds after her. “I guess you owe me lunch”

“Lunch?! I never said anything like that!” 

“Weeeeeell you did challenge me to a race so I assumed the winner gets something… and I want free lunch” _Oh wait. He still might be affected by that incident a while ago. It’d be pretty mean if I ask for free lunch after kinda offending him._

The short-haired female clears her throat. “On second thought. You don’t have to give me anything”

“Huh? I thought you wanted-“

“Heh, that was just a joke. Let’s get going ne?” The two decide to brisk walk going to the gym. After all, Yaku only has 5 minutes left before he gets a lecture from Kuroo about punctuality (‘like he doesn’t get late himself’ Yaku thought to himself)

“Yaku-san! You’re late too!” An irk mark appears on the libero’s forehead. Kazumi can hear faint grumbling from him and after a few seconds, he puts on a neutral face.

_Wow, what a change of mood._

“Not yet Lev. There’s still 3 minutes left”

“Why are you late Yaku-san? I thought that Kuroo-san and you do those early warmup things. Is it because your legs weren’t able to bring you here fast enough?” 

A resounding smack and ‘Ow’ coming from outside the gym catches Kai and Kuroo’s attention. An annoyed Yaku, on-the-floor-and-weeping Lev, and a surprised Kazumi was what they saw.

“Yakkun you didn’t have to kill him” Kai helps Lev up while the steaming Yaku changes into his gym shoes and enters the gym to start stretching. 

“Eh, is he going to be okay”

“Yeah. It’s normal. I heard about what they’re doing to the oval. Wanna stay here?” Kuroo gestures to the inside of the gym, where both the boys’ volleyball team and girls’ volleyball team are starting to do their warm-ups.

“The other gym is also being inspected so they decided to have joint training” Kuroo runs to the court and joins the warm-up

_I have nothing else to do. Maybe I’ll just watch them._

After changing her shoes, she enters the court. Coach Naoi notices her arrival.

“Hello there. Are you interested in becoming the boys’ team’s manager? No one’s signed up for it yet”

“Thank you for the offer but I came here to watch. I’m already part of the Track Team” Coach Naoi does an ‘o’ using is mouth and directs Kazumi to the benches.

“I did overhear about the oval inspection today. Have a seat there then. If ever you are interested in doing double club, feel free to approach me and we can sort your papers out” 

Nothing interesting was happening during the first few minutes of their practice, just the normal drills Kazumi remembers she had to watch every singe time she waited for his brother to finish training after school. Spacing out out of boredom, she doesn’t notice the black-haired girl along with a pink-haired one attack her from behind.

“Wah! Hinata-san, Okudaira-san, what are you two doing here?” Aimi lies down on the bench, giving off a sigh after finding a good position.

“Youko wanted to watch Kai-san” she bluntly stated. The aforementioned girl starts blabbering things that the two cannot understand.

“It’snotlikeIwentherejusttowatchhimIwanttoseehowtheteamplaysandstufflikethatandalsoIhavetogivehimsomethingforourproject”

“What?” The two confused girls say in unison. In reality, they got the message of what she was spouting. They just want to tease the poor girl.

“Never mind” The blushing Youko pouts then watches the players— a particular wing spiker rather.

“I tell you, she is head-over-heels for him” Aimi says smirking, soft enough for the lovestruck girl not to hear. “They’ve been classmates since kinder—Kinder! When I mean classmates, I mean same section every.damn.year.” Kazumi’s gears turn. Her eyes widen.

“Oh! I remember now! I studied in the same school as them back in elementary. If I remember correctly, Kai-kun was the boy who Hinata-san accidentally poured mud on” The tall girl giggles. 

“Yeah Youko’s told me about it. I don’t really think that you can dump mud on someone by accident. Youko is quite an interesting girl…total opposite of Kai-san” 

The whistle of the girls’ volleyball team’s coach signals the girls volleyball to exit the court so that the boys team can use the court. Ayame excuses herself and goes up to the bleachers. 

“Udai-saaaan! Gimme a hug” Kazumi dodges every ‘attack’ of the sweaty setter, barely missing some of them. In the end, Ayame decides to reserve her energy. She sits on one of the benches and watches the training with them.

“Damn, just watching them train makes me tired”

“Kuroo-kun and the others’ goal IS to dominate nationals. Of course they’ll do some spartan—“

_Riiiiiing_

Kazumi was cut off by the ring of Ayame’s phone. Being a snoopy friend, Aimi looks at the caller id.

“Ohoho? It’s Shiratorizawa boy Soekawa” 

“Jin?!” Ayame extends her arm to the point that it was already touching Kazumi’s nose. Out of surprise, she almost falls off the bench if not for Okudaira sitting up and helping her stay stable. “YOU’RE Jin’s girlfriend! The Tokyo girl he keeps on daydreaming about”

“Yep! He never told you?” The short-haired girl shakes her head, making Hayami laugh.

“Well I do remember him telling me that he doesn’t want to expose our relationship. He really did live up to it. Brb” And everything after that went in slow motion.

As soon as Ayame passed by Kazumi, a stray ball flew to the bleachers.

“Watch out!”

_Too late_

“Udai-san!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 2 clarifications for this chapter:
> 
> 1\. It was stated that Lev doesn't regularly join practice so that equals to him skipping some practice sessions. I decided that this practice was one of the times that he decided to show up (expect him to appear a bit less though before the chapter in the same week or smthg with the OVA )
> 
> 2\. Soekawa Jin! If you all don't know him, he's Shiratorizawa's Vice Captain who appeared in the Shiratorizawa special clip in the movie which has a counterpart in the manga (check it out! It made me cri ;-;). I'm actually planning on making a one-shot about his and Ayame's love story but it'll most probably come out as a bonus chapter of this story because well,
> 
> Since the story's got 4 chapters already, here's the character profile for Kazumi:  
> Name: Udai Kazumi
> 
> Age: 17
> 
> Date of Birth: December 29
> 
> Height: 162.56 cm (5'4")
> 
> Weight: 52.2 kg (115 lbs)
> 
> Home town: Miyagi Prefecture
> 
> Family: Udai Tenma (Older Brother)  
> Udai Hiroaki (Younger Brother)  
> Udai Suzume (Mother)  
> Udai Ohta (Father)
> 
> Likes: Blueberry Cheesecake, Track and Field
> 
> School: Feneku Junior High (Former)  
> Shiratorizawa Junior High (Former)  
> Shiratorizawa Academy (Former)  
> Nekoma Metropolitan High School
> 
> Appearance: pin/740349626219207423/ (her eye color is dark grey though)
> 
> Current Concern: "How do you cook in the kitchen without making a disaster?"


	5. Personalities Click

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aaaaaaah sorry for the very late update 0W0 I had a difficult time writing this chapter...I had to find ways in order for Kai/Hinata to not overshadow Yaku/Udai that much heehee. Welp enjoy the 5k+ words chapter

_“Okaa-san! Can I go out and play with Shimizu, Isogai, and Watanabe?” The season was starting to change. Summer was just around the corner. Temperatures were rising, but it didn’t stop the little brunette from wanting to play outside with her friends._

_“Bring your hat. Don’t forget to go and say goodbye to-“_

_“Your brothers, okay?” Ohta ruffles his daughter’s hair, who smiles in response. She doesn’t notice the frown on her mother’s face._

_“Okaay” She skips out of the house, not forgetting to tell her brothers where she’s going. The summer sun was heating the pavement. Trees that were scattered around the subdivision were of no help in making the subdivision any cooler._

_“It’s starting to get hot. I want to go to a beach” She and Kiyoko are under a tree, watching their two friends try and fail to climb up one of the tall trees in order to get a cicada. Scrapes were littered around their body but they didn’t seem to care._

_“I wanna go swimming” Kazumi stands up and stretches to wake her body up. They’ve been sitting down for a long time so her body went on full rest mode. She runs to her other friends who were successful in catching 3 cicadas. For the past hour, Shimizu has noticed something… different. After Kazumi went with her father to the 1 month science convention (which was a long convention in her opinion but maybe it’s because her father’s a big time inventor), they didn’t have the time to play together. Today was the only day they were able to play with her again._

_“Kazumi, they’ve found her?” Said girl looks at Kiyoko, confusion evident on her face._

_“Who her?” Her answer takes the little girl with glasses aback._

_“Ko-” She was cut off by a shout and ‘ow’ from their friend with a buzz cut. Seeing that maybe it wasn’t a good time to bring it up, Shimizu decides to stay silent. Her lips were slightly parted. She knows that it’s best not to talk, so why does she feel like she has to say nothing?_

_“If you don’t close your mouth, a fly will go in” Isogai sits under the tree and prepares to take a nap. It was almost 3 in the afternoon, and the mood of the place was perfect for sleeping._

_“Ne, Isogai”_

_“Hm?”_

_“Do you think Kazumi hit her head on a brick wall?”_

_“What?!”_

* * *

The gym went into chaos. Some ran to go and find for a first aid kit, two people went to the clinic, while the others surrounded the injured girl. A particular volleyball player was saying ‘sorry’ like he was a broken record.

“Lev you idiot! I told you to look front! You could’ve saved that one and it didn’t have to fly off!” Kuroo and Kai use up all their strength to try and keep Yaku from strangling the tall Russian. They were obviously struggling.

“Calm down demon-senpai. Udai-san’s all right. See” And lo and behold: A Kazumi sitting up with a bruise on her head. She looked quite unhappy with what just happened. 

“I was not responsible for any of your injuries a while ago Haiba-kun” Lev looks at Kazumi with attempted puppy eyes. Fukunaga thinks they look rather funny. They ARE cats, not dogs

“I’m so sorry Udai-san! I’ll promise to make it up to you! I’ll uh… do your homework!” The gym falls silent. So silent that you can hear the faucet from the other side of the school dripping. Everyone who was busy doing something stops.

“I-i don’t think that’s possible Lev” Shibayama’s small voice breaks all the silence. A guffaw from Yamamoto and snickers from the other people turn the gym lively once again. The coaches tell everyone to resume their practice while they take care of the incident at hand. The bruise was situated on the right side of her forehead so it can easily be covered by Kazumi’s bangs.

Youko and Kai help her up. She feels a slight pang of pain and dizziness, things which she wishes isn’t going to last long. Skipping classes wasn’t really ideal for her Wednesday schedule. Wednesday always had the best class schedule.

“Here’s the ice pack!” Ever full-of-energy Inuoka hands the ice pack. It was wrapped in a thin white handkerchief to prevent her hands getting all cold.

“Thank you Inuoka-kun” The said boy gives a thumbs-up and ‘no problem’ before skipping back to the court where the boys’ practice resumed. Coach Naoi asks if she feels fine to which she answers a yes (even if it really wasn’t true).

“Aiya Udai-san! You’re so unlucky this week. Your cat scratch just healed and now you have a bruise decorating your face” Aimi gives a pitying look at the poor brunette. Ayame comes back in the gym and rushes to them, her eyes giving off the fact that she has good news. It disappears though when she sees her friend’s state.

“Uwah! What happened?!”

“Lev, volleyball, not paying attention, you can connect the dots” Aimi bluntly says. “Anyways, what’s the good news? You had that ‘I hit the jackpot’ face when you entered the gym”

“I’m going to go to Miyagi during Golden Week!” Like a child who was given a toy, she spins around while squealing. It was a normal thing for the rest of them so they try to put on a smile despite feeling like their eardrums were about to burst. 

After about two seconds of doing just that, she sits on the bleachers and puts on a daydreaming face. “Ah, I’m going to see Jin again~”

“You’re so lovesick Hayami. I don’t even think it’s healthy”“Says the one who’s currently ogling at Kai Nobuyuki” Aimi mutters.

“I’m not!”

“You are”

“I’m not!”

“You are~”

The two continue to banter, becoming background noise to Kazumi when she feels her headache worsening. She tries to think that it’ll lessen because after all, they do say that when you think of something too much it’ll happen. Too much lost in her thought, she doesn’t notice Hayami and the girls’ team get back on the court and the boys’ team have their break. The leave of Aimi and Youko going to the Home Economics Classroom was also blocked out by her spacing out.

.-.-.

After giving Lev a good kick to the shin, Yaku finally calmed down. Seeing that Kazumi was all right also helped reassure him that no one was going to report the club to the head of club managing. They didn’t need a repeat of what happened last year.

The girls team took over the court meaning they had enough time to rest up. A whine of ‘I’m so hungry!’ from his kouhai reminds him of the melon pan his grandmother made. He trudges towards the benches where a slumped Kazumi and the two baskets are situated on. 

“Bored?” He asks, taking away the basket for the team.

No response

“Udai-san?” Her breathing was still like she was asleep. Wait… is she asleep? To check his suspicions, he faces her. Yep, sound asleep. How was she able to doze off in a noisy gym? With a shake of his head, he crouched down a little and shook her shoulders.

“Hey, you can go sleep in the classroom. You might get hit by a ball again” Yaku used his calmest voice possible in order for him not to suffer the same fate as Kuroo. From what he remembers, Kuroo’s hand almost got bitten off when he tried to wake up Kazumi yesterday when she fell asleep during break. Things got more heated when Kuroo made a side comment about being a feisty kitten (or something like that, Yaku wasn’t sure) and it didn’t end well for Kuroo. 

After a few seconds of saying ‘wake up’ and gentle shakes of her shoulder, Kazumi finally woke up. Yaku doesn’t know how long she was out but she looked worse than a while ago. Her eyes were droopy and she looked pale.

“Practice is done?” she mutters using her (surprisingly) hoarse voice. She didn’t have to say anything for Yaku to activate his ‘mom mode’.

“Stay here. I’ll go get something” 

“I’m not going anywhere anyways” Yaku wasn’t able to hear that anymore. He ran (yes ran) out of the gym. Unfortunately, most of his teammates noticed him run out. 

“What was that all about?” Kuroo asks no one in particular.

“Maybe Yaku-san needs to take a dump!” All of the boys eyes turn to him, some (read: Kenma) showing disgust. 

“You don’t say that out loud Lev” Kuroo looks at the direction where Yaku came from. Kazumi was quietly sitting on the bench. 

“I wonder” He strides towards the girl, pulling Kai along with him. Yaku never breaks into a run unless there’s an emergency or Lev runs away after insulting him so maybe something’s wrong with the brunette. 

_Is she sick?_

Kuroo’s question was answered when she greets with a soft ‘osu’. She didn’t look well at all. From what the captain can remember, Kazumi was okay after she was hit on the head. Maybe she’s starting to feel dizzy.

“You okay?” He sits next to her on the bench. The baskets of melon pan didn’t escape his eyes so he opened the bigger basket and got one. “I’ll assume this one’s for the team. Yakkun’s gramma loves giving out bread”

“Yeah it is. I think I have a slight fever. The clinic’s just nearby so I’ll just-“ A panting Yaku Morisuke stopped her from speaking. He has a bag (that Kuroo and Kai are _very_ familiar with) and a couple of foils of medicine. He hands one to Kazumi and scavenges for something in the bag.

“The nurse isn’t in yet so you should just go to the classroom and sleep there. Bring this blanket and uh— the pillow’s not here…”

“Thank you for the blanket Yaku-kun but I’m fine without it. The classroom is pretty toasty”

“You’ll need to warm up or you won’t feel any better”

“The pill is going to help me get better. The clinic will be open later so I’ll go right away”

“It doesn’t open until 1 hour later”

Kuroo and Kai just watch the two banter (if that’s what you can call it). No one has ever won against Yaku when it comes to him acting like a mother cat so Kazumi will make history if she wins this one. So far, it looks like Yaku’s got the upper hand…which is kind of expected. In the end, the caramel-haired boy does the most unexpected thing.

He shuts Kazumi up by snatching the blanket from her, unfolding it, and wrapping it to turn her into a burrito. 

“Oi! Unwrap me!” With a shake of his head, Yaku picks up the basket for the team and gives it to his kouhais. Kai puts on an amused face while Kuroo laughs his famous hyena laugh. Kazumi tries her best to hop towards the bedhead without toppling over. She gives him a glare

“Unwrap me hyena”

“I don’t want my rear tanned by Yaku-paisen so nah” She tries to let out a frustrated groan but her condition doesn’t let her. The brunette settles for trying to take off the tucked end of the blanket. It was a success.

“Freedom. See ya later” before leaving, she approaches Hayami—who was currently in break— and borrowed her jacket. She wears it on top of her blazer, flopping her arms a little because of how the sleeves were a little long for her. 

* * *

After a gruelling Math diagnostic test, Class 3-5 was finally free from all the thinking and whatnot. It was finally lunch break. They had Home Economics after, then PE, then study period, and lastly homeroom. Yaku has to admit that his class schedule this year is nice. Math was always before lunch so after using all of his energy up he can ‘refuel’

Nekoma’s canteen wasn’t small nor was it big either. All classes had the same lunch break so a packed canteen was always expected. Of course, there are instances where you suddenly loose your friends in the crowd. And Yaku is experiencing it right now. 

“Yaku-san, have you found your jacket?” Shibayama, whose class just got dismissed, asked. He falls in line at the back of the older libero. Yaku is quite relieved that he has someone to talk to while waiting for his turn. The line can take forever before it moves.

“I looked for it in the clubroom and in the gym but it wasn’t there. Maybe I dropped it somewhere in the hall” 

“I see…oh! Yaku-san isn’t that yours?” Mentioned boy follows his kouhai’s gaze. He sees none other than Udai Kazumi holding onto his ‘lost’ jacket. From how far he is, he can still see the distinct inner pockets of his jacket. She was giving it to… Hayame? 

“Udai-san must have seen it somewhere in the hallway” Yaku instructs Shibayama to save his spot (“But Yaku-san what if it’s your turn?” “I won’t take that long. I’ll be right back”). He makes his way towards the two girls, the one wearing glasses trying to calm the brunette who was as red as Nekoma’s jersey.

“Hayami-san, Udai-san, that’s my jacket… how did you get a hold of it” Ayame lets out a nervous laugh accompanied by a pat on Kazumi’s shoulders.

“Jacket mix up. I thought I got a hold of my jacket. Turns out it was yours. Hehe” She gives back the jacket, now a little crumpled which was probably because of Kazumi moving around in her sleep in the clinic. 

“Wah! Yaku-kun I’m so sorry! I uh… I… drooled on it” Yaku didn’t have to hear her to see the stain on the jackets collar. He chuckled, making Kazumi more embarrassed than she was before.

“No worries. I just have to wash it and it’s gone” he reassures her. “And besides, this means that you had a good sleep. You feel alright now?” 

“Yeah”

“That’s good to hear” A small voice calling Yaku’s name cuts whatever Hayami was supposed to say. He takes his leave and goes back to his kouhai who was holding two trays of Omurice.

“The line moved quickly and before I knew it it was your turn” Shibayama explains, handing out the other tray to his senpai. “I-I didn’t know what to get you so I settled for what I was getting. I’m so sorry I wasn’t able to call you right away! Th-there were a bunch of senpais telling me to hurry up” 

“No, no it’s all right! I’m the one who should be sorry. I didn’t come back in time. I’ll pay you later after we find the rest of the team”

.-.-.

“Oya?” Aimi scooted a little to the right to give space for the two brunettes each holding a tray of Omurice. One of the trays were threatening to slip from the smaller of the two. “Udai-san saw a ghost or something in the clinic?” 

“Udaicchi! You’re all right!” Hinata almost knocked over her open water jug filled with whatever juice she was drinking. “You’re feeling better right? Or you aren’t? Why’re you shaking? Don’t tell me you escaped the clinic!” 

“Hinata-chan please calm down” A girl with chestnut brown hair tied to the side and a beauty mark near her mouth mutters. She fixes her red-rimmed rectangular glasses. Kazumi hasn’t seen her before, she thought that maybe she was Youko or Aimi’s classmate. 

“Ikeda Emi. Class 3-3. You’re Udai Kazumi, if I’m not mistaken” 

“Yeah, Udai Kazumi. Class 3-5”

“Ooh, smartass. Just like Tetsuhoe” 

“… Tetsuhoe?”

Emi looks at Kazumi with her caramel colored eyes, sparkling with mischief just like how Aimi’s eyes were when she first met her. “Just a nickname I gave him”

“They’re from the same middle school”

“And neighborhood”

“You know Ike-chan you can get into a prep class if you try harder” Youko says out of the blue. 

“They expect a lot from preppies” Aimi snorts at the nickname. Ikeda was a smart girl. Heck, she tops her class. If she’d put more effort into her studies, she could’ve been qualified to join a prep class. “Also, prep classes are where the drama’s at. Don’t wanna get involved”

Hinata snaps her fingers upon hearing the word drama. She gestures all of them to come closer. “I heard that Kobayashi-kun and Miyazaki broke up a while ago before classes started” 

“Here we go again…”

“Don’t act as if you don’t want to hear about it Ikeda-chan. Anyways, apparently they had a fight because Miya-chan got jealous over a girl and well, Kobayashi-kun had enough” 

“No wonder there was tension in the classroom. Thought it was because someone was caught doing something nasty” Hayami comments. For some odd reason, Youko blushes.

“Hayamichhi!” Everyone else in the table looks at her weirdly. All except for Ikeda who had a smirk (which Kazumi thought was a lot like Kuroo’s) plastered on her face. 

“What are you thinking Hinata? You and your mind…” Youko tries to save herself and rambles, saying things along the line of ‘nasty can mean two things’ and ‘the statement wasn’t clear’. Seeing as to no one is buying her excuses, she gives up and finishes the rest of her drink.

“Setting that thing aside, let’s get back to Udai-chan” Kazumi was a little surpised with the honorific Emi used, since they just met a few minutes ago (she doesn’t mind at all though). “I’m going to take a guess. You weren’t feeling well a while ago so you borrowed a jacket from Hayami”

Hayami and Udai’s jaws drop when she got it right. “How’d you-“

“Wait there’s more. Udai went to the clinic and came back this lunch. She was about to give back the jacket to Hayami but then glasses realized something”

“What was it?” Ever-eager Youko scooted a little bit too close to the blonde. Another mischievous look was sent their way. 

“It was Yaku’s jacket all along” A groan escapes from Kazumi mouth. Okudaira puts on an amused look while Hinata looks like she’s about to burst, lighty bouncing up and down her seat. Ikeda thinks that maybe the energetic female would fall off any second, but she doesn’t do anything about it (that’s just how she rolls)

“Udai-chaaaaan! I smell a love story!”

Kazumi frantically waves her arms around. “No no no! It was all just an accident! Also, it’s just the third day of school”

“Honestly, I thought you two were like… grade school friends or something” Hayami flicks her spoon to point at the brunette, some of the bits of her food falling on the table. “I dunno. You two just seem close. Even if you guys just met it’s like you already met before judging by how you act around each other. Get what I mean?”

Youko’s eyes widen and she brightens up, much to the girl to her right’s annoyance. Frantically, she searches for something in her baby blue bag until she pulls out a rather dusty thick brown book. She settles it on top of the table and turns to one of the pages.

“Maybe you were lovers in your past life!” She shows the chapter that has ‘past life: connection to your present’ written in bold capital letters. “It says here that if you two act very comfortable towards each other even if you just met each other then maybe you had a very close relationship with each other! Just imagine, you and Yaku-kun were star-crossed lovers!”

“And that folks was another episode of ‘Baseless theories with Hinata Youko’”

“Aimichhi! They aren’t baseless!”

“Yeah, yeah” While Youko argues with Aimi, Hayami cleans up the table like the ‘squad mom’ she was.

“You know, maybe it’s just because you personalities click. He’s a mom, you’re a clumsy stubborn child. Also, I remember him saying that he sucks at track so maybe he admires you who— I must say— is pretty good” Ikeda nods in agreement (even if she really hasn’t seen the two interact yet)

“But I’m not clumsy! Or stubborn!”

“Repeat until true”

“Infatuation, maybe?” The duo looks at Emi who was playing with a blue colored POP. “What? It happens all the time”

Kazumi tries to hide the blush on her face by covering her cheeks with both of her hands. Emi sees this as an opportunity to go on. “Yaku-kun likes short-haired, smaller than him, mountain hiking, athletic, baking girls. You tick 3 out of the 6 boxes” 

“Ooh! Not bad~” Youko and Aimi were listening to their conversation all along. They set the banter aside to listen to what the ‘Love Extraordinaire’ has to say. “I remember ticking 3 too! Buuut I wasn’t really interested in him”

“Oh yeah. He liked you back in 1st year” Everyone (minus Kazumi of course) can clearly remember the events that happened between Yaku and Hinata 2 years ago. He confessed to her during her birthday and, well, she turned him down. She already liked Kai back then.

“Back to the discussion!”

“Eeh?! Can we please change topic

“What time is it?!” Hotaru _slams_ her bento on the table and sits on the remaining space. “The student government meeting was longer than I expected” Kazumi thanks Hotaru for popping out of nowhere. Someday she’ll have to treat her a juice box or something with no explanation.

“Hmm… 10 minutes before the bell rings” The brunette lets out a panicked noise before eating like that the world was ending.

“Don’t worry Hotachhi, Ikeda’s just messing with you. You still have about 23 minutes”

“Emi!”

“Heehee” And after that, the topic about Yaku’s infatuation was never brought up again for the rest of the lunch break.

* * *

“1 minute and 0.55 seconds!”

“Ahh! Slower than the last one” Kazumi slumps on the nearby hurdle, exhaustion taking over her body. Her once neatly tied half-ponytail now looked like someone tried to pull her hair off her scalp. It was getting dark. Most of her fellow track players were walking towards the school building, ready to hit the showers. The air was chilling both her and the team’s new member— Maehara Sayuri.

The first year placed the stopwatch on the bench. She takes off her ponytail, letting her long blue hair loose. “Will you go for another round Udai-senpai?”

“I don’t think I can. You can go ahead and hit the showers. I’ll just stay here for a while”

“Oh okay. Nice work today senpai!” And with that, she walks out of the oval and towards the. building. All of the lampposts surrounding the oval were switched open, the only time Kazumi notices that there was someone on the other side of the oval. From what she can see, the person was jumping hurdles.

_Woah, that person’s fast._

He/She jumps the last hurdle. Then slips

Kazumi runs towards the potentially injured person which she came to identify as Kobayashi Haku. He landed on his butt, which was kind of a good thing. Atleast he didn’t slip all the way and landed on his back. That would have been very alarming.

“Kobayashi-kun! Are you okay?” Mentioned boy stands up and dusts off whatever dirt (or was there?) was on his shorts. He gives the girl a reassuring smile.

“Yeah. It was just a slip. No need to worry” Kobayashi leans on the hurdle, making him look like one of those models you’ll see on the cover pages of sports magazines. “I thought Yaku forbid you to attend club today”

“Actually a lot of people did. They can’t stop me though” Kazumi smiles. “I feel fine. Nothing for them to worry about”

“Udai Kazumi! I need you here right now!” The two turn to look at the owner of the voice. Near the benches at the other side of the oval stood Hinata jumping and waving her left hand around. Her right hand seems to be holding what Kazumi can make out as a zip lock.

“Uhm, excuse me for a moment”

“I’ll head the showers already so uh… see ya around” Haku jogs off to the building with the men’s showers while Kazumi runs to the hyper girl.

“What’s up?”

“What do you mean ‘what’s up’?! You went to club without us knowing!” The brunette takes her things from the bench and follows her friend to who knows where.

“I took some medicine and vitamins so I’m good to go!”

“No you aren’t idiot! Also, put on your damn jacket. Do you really want to head to the building wearing nothing but a sports bra and shorts?” She wears her team jacket, red with two black stripes on each sleeve and the word ‘Nekoma’ in white at the back.

“There. So why do you look like you’re constipated or something?” The zip lock on her hand was decorated with a cat sticker and a speech bubble that had the word ‘nyan~’. Kazumi had to try to fight back a laugh when she read the word. “Nyan? Seriously Hinata-san?” 

“I didn’t know what else to write! Meow is too basic!” The raven-haired looks down. A faint blush appears on her face. “I think you know why I called you”

Kazumi pats Youko’s shoulders. “Of course I do! Now let’s go and give that to your man” 

“M-man?! My man?!”

“Soon to be your man. Happy?” Youko answers with silence but Kazumi damn well knew she agreed to that. The gym was not far from the oval, so the two arrived there in no time. From what they can hear, they were busy with receiving practice. The occasional ‘Move you feet Lev, damnit!’ and other remarks about receiving by none other than Nekoma’s starting libero.

“Heh, Lev’s got it hard”

“Urk! Maybe I should just eat it by myself at home and-“

“No. You are not turning back. Hurry up or I’ll leave you here all alone. I still have to shower” Kazumi pushes Youko towards the gym’s entrance, giving her a thumbs up when she looks back. With a shake of her body to release all nervousness, she knocks on the gym doors. Coach Naoi blew his whistle to signal a break for the boys. He approaches Youko who was still shyly hiding half of her body at the gym doors (Kazumi can only face palm)

“May I help you?”

“A-ano… is Kai-kun here” Another face palm. Kazumi wanted to retort and say ‘Duh he is. You told me he was ’ but she’ll just let things be. 

“Kai!” Coach Naoi signals Kai to come over. Coach Naoi leaves them be. 

“It’s quite late Hinata. What brings you here?” Kazumi watches as Youko hesitantly gives the zip lock and how Kai’s eyes sparkled (in a way).

“You didn’t really have to bother and make me cookies”

“W-we had a baking session during club and I-i remembered what you said during P.E. so I made some!” Kazumi winces when Youko ends with a high-pitched tone. Kai laughs and what he does next surprises everyone minus the two coaches

(Yes everyone because the team decided to snoop at the vice-captain)

He grabs her hand and _kisses_ the back. “Thank you, milady”

“N-no! Wah! I mean— What?! Uh… yes!” And Kai gives out a laugh louder than his last one.

“Sorry. I just had to do it. Similar lines to the play” He lets go of Youko’s hand (Kazumi swears she sees Youko deflate) and starts changing into his outdoor shoes. “The paint and brushes are in my bag. I’ll go get them” 

“I-i can go with you, if you want”

“Oh. Sure!”

He asks permission from the two coaches and they give him a thumbs-up. Youko looks at Kai’s disappearing figure, her face so red it can put a firetruck to shame. He acknowledges Kazumi’s presence then walks going to the clubroom. Kazumi lightly jabs Youko on the side to snap her out of her trance.

“Hey milady, aren’t you going to follow him?”

“Oh—um right” Youko’s personality just changes whenever she’s with him. Kazumi considers trying to eat with Youko and Kai in one table and see if Youko’s going to be her ball-of-sunshine self during lunch. Now that’s going to her list of social experiments.

A ball flies out of the gym. It lands just a few centimeters away from Kazumi’s feet. She crouches and picks it up. For some weird reason, another hand was already there. She thanks every god that she wasn’t touching the other hand like her life was a shoujo anime. Kazumi knew very well who was the owner of the hand with a bandage covering the top of his index finger. 

She stands up, retracting her hand from the volleyball. The male in front of her picks it up.

“You’re still here” Yaku _dares_ not to look at the girl in front of him. He was well aware that his face was heating up because of her outfit. Despite being a mature team mom of the rowdy boys’ volleyball club he was still a hormonal teenage boy at the end of the day. “It’s getting pretty late”

“I had to accompany Hinata-san. She would’ve run off and ate the cookies if she went alone”

“They’ve been pining at each other for quite some time now. Maybe this year’s the year when they finally get together” 

“Maybe a little push will help. Hinata-san can confess if she’s able to fill herself with courage. Up to the brim”

“I don’t really think Kai will end the school year without confessing. The chances of them going to different universities is high. He said that Hinata wants to pursue a baking career so she might study in one of those high-end culinary schools somewhere in Kyoto” 

“Aw, that’s gonna be sad” For the duration of their talk, Yaku’s cheeks were just red. Kazumi thought that maybe he was the sick one this time. As their conversation went on, her mind was off thinking of a reason for the libero’s red cheeks— not that she’s bothered about it, it’s just that she wouldn’t be able to concentrate talking to him because of how cute he looks damnit!

_Maybe he is sick. Or he feels embarrassed about the ball incident. Or he’s happy about the fact that Kai-kun and Hinata-san are on a short date. Nah, maybe it’s the wind? It is kind of cold. I wanna zip up my—_

_Oh._

_I get it now…_

_Damn perv._

She fumbles with her jacket zipper, zipping it up until the end. Just like Yaku, her cheeks were stained red. “It’s getting pretty cold, huh?” _Damn him!_

Yaku’s eyes widen. He realizes that she’s realized what’s causing him to have the same shade as the previously unzipped jacket she’s wearing. “Y-yeah! It’s getting pretty chilly. See you tomorrow!” _I hate you hormones! Track players normally wear that and you see it everyday! Well… they aren’t Udai-san… Gah! I should go watch Aki’s favorite series to erase everything. Was that Lion Guard?_

Yaku disappears into the gym, volleyball in hand. Kazumi decides to head for the showers. Youko and Kai seem to take their sweet time getting paint and paintbrushes. 

"Udai-san!" She turns around and sees Yaku with a small paper bag. "Catch"

Kazumi _sucks_ at catching things— the reason why she tries her best to avoid sports involving catching. After a few wobbles and juggling, she managed to get a good hold of the paper bag.

She peers into it and sees two melon pans. Cold melon pans.

"I saved them from the hungry beasts" A smile then he leaves again.

"Oh.. um **—** Thank you!"

She was a few feet away from the gym when she hears shouts of panic from inside the gym. Kuroo’s hyena laugh, a bunch of squeaking shoes, someone yelling ‘tissue!’, and a gasp from a Russian beanpole hinted her that something bad (or good? Probably bad for the person and good for Kuroo) happened.

“Yaku-san’s nose is bleeding! Did someone throw you the ball outside and hit your face?!”

“Lev so naive~ Never thought this day would come Yakkun”

“Ooh, so that’s four ticks out of 7. Nice body, enough to blow his fuse”

“Shut up you idiot couple!”

Kazumi thinks she’s made a new shade of red on her face as she runs off the showers and probably soak herself in the hottest water temperature it had to offer.

* * *

**Bonus:**

“Aah I’m so sorry Kai! I didn’t see the rock! Now you have to do this and I’m heavy and you’re tired from practice. I’m being a burden…” 

“I don’t really mind at all Hinata. You’re pretty light, do you even eat?” Youko playfully slaps Kai’s back.

“Of course I do _baka_! I am not one for starving myself” She wraps her arms around Kai’s once again, she doesn’t want to fall off his back and gain another injury. A sprained ankle was enough. She looks up the sky adorned with millions of twinkling stars.

“It’s like I can pluck a star from the sky by just extending my hand. I wanna go stargazing someday”

“I know a place not too far from here that’s got a nice view of the sky. Maybe we can go there some time” Kai turns his head to look at the girl on his back. He was thankful it was dark, or she would’ve seen the blush on his face.

“I’d love to” _Wait is that a date?! Is he asking me out? I have to keep calm… Deeeeep breaths…_

The few clouds part and give light. Now the night sky was complete. They go back to the gym in comfortable silence, both secretly wanting this one moment to last forever.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ...Sksksksksksk...
> 
> I just had to write about why Kai and Hinata were taking their sweet time. Every time I see/type Hinata I see Shouyo what is wrong with me.
> 
> Decided to throw in a different side of Yaku (I'm not sorry) cause I thought I had to let hoomans see a different side of the momma cat. Aaaand a new friend has arrived! Ikeda Emi's going to get her own story soon ;) She and Kuroo aren't a couple btw. Yaku just ships them (more like the whole team does)


End file.
